Lack of awareness about the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act 2013, which stipulates tough punishment for tortures and deaths in custody, has apparently created scopes for law enforcers to be involved in extra-judicial killings, legal experts said. The law stipulates that the police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), customs, immigration, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), intelligence agencies, Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP), Coast Guard and other public servants cannot extract confessional statements by torturing any detainee. As the relatives of the victims of custodial death are not that much aware of the law, they usually do not seek legal remedy to the offence, experts believe.
The law says any custodian
torturing a detainee is liable to commit offences defined under the law. Also, any person attempting to commit,
aiding and abetting to commit, or conspiring to commit such offence must be considered as an offender.
According to the new law, for any death in custody, the custodian will face rigorous life imprisonment or be fined Tk 100,000. In addition, he/she must compensate family members of the victim with a sum of Tk 200,000.
Eminent jurist Shahdeen Malik said even though there is a provision to file a case against the custodian under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013, victims’ families do not file cases against the custodian because of two reasons. First, most of the people are hardly aware of the law and, secondly, victims’ families live in fear.
Citing the examples of Latin American countries, Malik said many army generals and political leaders faced convictions for committing crimes in the 1970s and the 1980s. Those who are now committing crimes by killing people may well face trial after 10 to 20 years. So, even if the victims’ families file cases after 10 to 20 years, the incident could be proved easily, he noted.
More than 1,000 people have been killed over the past 10 to 12 years. Yet, the victims’ families did not file cases  
out of fear. The victims’ families might move the court when they feel they are safe, he added.
Referring to the trial of the Bangabandhu assassination case, war crimes cases and grenade attack case, Dr Malik said trial of these cases were not held right after the incidents. The trials of those cases, including war crimes, were carried out after a long time. So, everyone should think twice before committing any criminal offences, the senior Supreme Court lawyer noted.
Awareness should be generated among the people about custodial deaths. If people are more aware, then victims’ families might move court seeking remedy, and thus the number of such incidents can be reduced, he said.  
Former law minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed said, “If the victim’s family does not file a case seeking remedy against custodial death, there is no way for the courts to give them justice. The victim’s family must move the court to seek justice,” he added.
Echoing Dr Malik’s comments, the former law minister said awareness must be created among people, including law enforcers, so that everyone is aware of the fate of those responsible for custodial deaths. “If everyone is aware of the law, the number of such incidents might be reduced in the country,” he noted.
According to an Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) report, law enforcement agencies have killed 128 people in separate incidents of ‘crossfire’ in 2014 while 146 people were killed in 2015.
A total of 59 people have been killed this year in separate incidents of crossfire or encounters. Among them, 11 died in the custody of law enforcers. Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday said the trial of all extra-judicial incidents would be carried out in accordance with the law. Those who were involved in committing these crimes would not be spared, he added.
The Chief Justice made the comment in response to a reporter’s query yesterday morning during his sudden visit to the trial court of Dhaka. The trial of these incidents would be carried out in accordance with the law by recording witnesses’ statements and other supporting documents, he said.